Some of the generals were better at leading smaller forces or even earlier in the war. Part of Hooker's problem at Chancellorsville came from his right flank being against the Wilderness, which Jackson flanked. He was too over confident that no one could get through the Wilderness, that Lee had to commit himself to a frontal assualt just as Burnside had at Fredericksburg. But the flank didn't hold against Jackson because they didn't expect anyone could come through the Wilderness.